Top Prospect Contender: Juuso Valimaki

Next up in our Top Prospect Contender series is the player who was our top-ranked prospect in last summer’s FlamesNation rankings, Finnish defender Juuso Valimaki. Once easily the top young gun in the organization, he’s missed a good chunk of time with a pair of fairly significant injuries.

Is Valimaki still the team’s top prospect?

Originally from Nokia, Finland, Valimaki came to North America in 2015 via the CHL’s Import Draft. Landing with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, he had a strong first junior season and captained Finland to gold at the World Under-18s. Then he was a Second Team Conference All-Star in his second season, representing Sweden at the World Juniors. He was drafted by the Flames in the first round (16th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft.

The following season he was point-per-game again and captained Finland’s World Junior entry. He missed a chunk of the 2017-18 season with an injury. Then in 2018-19, he made the Flames but missed a good chunk of the season with a high ankle sprain. Then he tore out his knee over the summer and, as of this writing, has missed the entire season.

Y’know why the Flames were so excited to grab Valimaki in Chicago at 2017’s draft? The kid has an immensely high ceiling. He can skate. He can play physical. He can distribute the puck. He’s got decent size but he uses it well. He thinks the game at a high level.

It’s not easy to play in the NHL, on a good team, as a 20-year-old. Valimaki could do it, which puts him in pretty rare company.

Playing in the NHL as a 20-year-old coming off a recurring upper body injury the prior season, Valimaki looked great. Then he had a high ankle sprain and missed a big chunk of the season. Then he tore his ACL and missed the entire 2019-20 season (so far).

Considering he’s only played 24 games of pro hockey since the beginning of 2019, it’s probably okay to be a bit concerned about how he’s going to look. With the season shut down (for now), it’s likely that Valimaki won’t play pro hockey until the pre-season in September – 13 months after his knee injury. From a recovery standpoint, that’s perfect. From a developmental standpoint, it’s a lot of hockey for someone to be missing in their 19, 20 and 21-year-old seasons.

But if he’s even close to what he was before his injury, he’s still going to be really, really good.